Sappiness dragged down an otherwise cool concept

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2013)

Ever since the original Gojira in 1954, a serious movie about a giant monster tearing down our civilized world, I've been hungry for an epic movie with the same treatment.
The wait goes on. And the reason is because the subject matter is rarely taken seriously. In fact movies of this ilk are intentionally goofy or tongue-in-cheek, and Pacific Rim is well within that range. It's as if the storytellers feel that there is no way to treat the subject matter in a serious way. After all, it's ridiculous to have giant monsters rise out of the sea and knock down buildings, right? So why not make movies about it that are just as ridiculous?
Really bad thinking.
All of the Godzilla movies made by Toho since the 1954 movie were dumbed down, made for kids. The Roland Emmerich Godzilla in 1998 was full of ham. Cloverfield was serious, but the found-footage hyper-POV format killed the epic, global flavor that I wanted.
I had high hopes for Pacific Rim, but I was very disappointed. The scientists really killed it. They were so ridiculous I was embarrassed every time they had a scene.
Also, Pacific Rim is as much about giant fighting robots as about the giant monsters. The movie began by summarizing an entire history wherein these creatures attacked us, with a few glimpses of them, and jumped forward to begin our story when we already were at war with them using giant robots. It rubs me the wrong way to tell stories in this manner, but I keep an open mind on a case-by-case basis. District 9 used that format, wherein it started long after the aliens have already arrived, rather than chronicling the arrival itself. But I was fine with it. But in Pacific Rim I felt like I was watching a sequel to a movie that was never made.
The battles between robot and monster were very hard to see. There was always darkness, pouring rain, splashing ocean water... I felt like I rarely got a good view of the monsters.
But all of that I would have forgiven if they had expunged it of sappy scientists acting like cocaine addicts and spouting things that made no sense.
I look forward to Gareth Edwards' Godzilla treatment next year to see if he finally breaks the trend.